Chapter 5190 — There Really Was No Need

He could not help the headache. After all, he had once given Dr. Glasses his solemn word, and if this business were botched, what if Dr. Glasses simply revoked his status as a key cultivator?

Just as Xue Jianming was at his wit's end, another Snow Sword Sect disciple entered the arena and, like Luo Shasheng before him, was forcibly strung together into the snow momentum by his opponent; the man could not resist at all and was defeated with a single effortless move. This was the most normal outcome of all—if everyone turned the tables within a single move the way Qiu Lingshan had just done, now that would be a problem.

At this thought, a sudden inspiration struck Xue Jianming. He looked at Wei Zhao and the cold-faced group standing together not far away, chatting and laughing, and in an instant he understood.

The matches continued. After the early Foundation Establishment cultivators came the clashes among disciples at the peak of the Heaven Tier, and those who had not even reached the peak of the Heaven Tier had no right to enter the trial tournament at all, for even if they took part they would only be wasting their time.

Only two short months remained. Anyone still merely at the peak of the late Heaven Tier, or even lower, had no hope of succeeding in Foundation Establishment within those two months. They were fated to be eliminated, so naturally there was no need for them to join any trial tournament.

By the time the first round of matches was entirely finished, it was already evening of the second day. Everyone returned to rest for the night, and when the sun rose on the third day, the second round of the trial tournament began.

As was customary, the cross-tier challenges came before the regular matches. In the first round everyone else had stood watching, and only Ling Tianyou had stepped forward to name Wei Zhao as his challenge—and tasted defeat for the first time in his life.

Now, in the second round, after two days of careful deliberation—and since the first round had more or less laid bare everyone's true strength—there was enough for the crowd to go on.

Sure enough, this time far more people chose to issue cross-tier challenges: seven in all. The most eye-catching was Ling Tianyou, challenging once again. Though this young sect master of the Thousand Blades Sect had lost to Wei Zhao last time, the might of the Thousand Blades in Flight was beyond doubt; among the many early-stage Foundation Establishment experts, apart from Wei Zhao, there was likely no one who could match him.

And the facts proved it. At the Foundation Establishment level, even if Ling Tianyou was not the invincible number one, he was certainly among the top few. His opponent, an expert at the peak of early Foundation Establishment, was by no means weak, yet was effortlessly crushed in a single exchange, with no chance to strike back.

And so Ling Tianyou became the first disciple to win a place in the Grand Antiquity Trial, while the peak Foundation Establishment disciple he defeated became the first unlucky soul eliminated from the tournament.

Watching the man's dazed, despairing look, quite a few people felt a pang of sympathy. A dignified expert at the peak of Foundation Establishment, eliminated just like that—it truly left one sighing and speechless.

In terms of strength, this man was hardly weak among the peak Foundation Establishment experts. Had he not run into Ling Tianyou, he would in fact have had a good chance of snatching three victories from other experts of his level—provided, of course, that his luck was not too poor.

Alas, there are no "ifs" in this world. His luck was not merely poor; it was utterly wretched. Under such cruel rules, elimination was unavoidable, and he could blame no one but himself for being so unfortunate as to catch Ling Tianyou's eye.

"Brother Tianyou, as far as I know, you are not one to concede easily. So why, instead of challenging Wei Zhao again today, did you pick such a soft persimmon?" Xue Jianming suddenly sidled over and asked, a strange, mocking smile on his face.

At these words, everyone around turned to look, and even Xin Yi'an could not help but prick up his ears in curiosity. For this, the next cross-tier challenge was even deliberately postponed.

Ling Tianyou swept his gaze over the crowd, gave a slight nod when his eyes passed over Wei Zhao, and without the least embarrassment said calmly, "Brother Xue is mistaken. Tianyou respects every opponent. In Tianyou's eyes, Brother Zhan is a true opponent, not some soft persimmon."

This Brother Zhan was Zhan Shixiong, the peak Foundation Establishment disciple he had just defeated in a single move. Though Ling Tianyou's expression as he said this was utterly sincere, everyone felt it was mere politeness. To others, Zhan Shixiong was a formidable foe, but to a chosen prodigy like Ling Tianyou, calling him a soft persimmon was entirely fair—and Zhan Shixiong himself thought so too.

What a hypocrite! Xue Jianming spat inwardly, though his face betrayed nothing. With a half-smile he said, "Brother Tianyou still seems not to have answered my question?"

"Because I cannot beat Brother Lin. It is as simple as that." Ling Tianyou's answer was wholly undisguised. Their match two days ago had already settled the score, and for the time being at least, he was no match for Wei Zhao. Proud as he was as the young sect master of the Thousand Blades Sect, in a matter like this he would not stoop to self-deception.

"Is that so? Then why not challenge me? I have been waiting for you a long time," Xue Jianming said, shocking everyone.

The crowd exchanged glances. Xue Jianming and Ling Tianyou were both kings at the Foundation Establishment level, yet they had never once faced each other directly, ever keeping king apart from king. Which of them was stronger had thus long been one of the hottest topics in the wider world—and yet Ling Tianyou had twice chosen cross-tier challenges without ever picking Xue Jianming, leaving everyone deeply disappointed.

Who would have thought Xue Jianming would openly provoke him before the crowd at such a moment? Did he mean to fight Ling Tianyou in an extra match?

"Is there any need for that?" Ling Tianyou gave him a half-smiling glance.

Another stir ran through the crowd. Ling Tianyou's reply seemed casual and ordinary enough, yet it brimmed with an indescribable confidence and contempt—as though, in his eyes, Xue Jianming was not on his level at all, and there was simply no need to go out of his way to defeat him.

"Hahahaha!" Xue Jianming threw back his head and laughed until he was gasping for breath. After a long while he suddenly said, "Quite right. There really is no need."

Even as he spoke, he had formally added Ling Tianyou's name to his kill list. Thousand Blades in Flight was indeed a little troublesome, but in the end the man was merely an expert at the peak of late Foundation Establishment, while he himself was at early Golden Core. Who was stronger and who weaker was plain at a glance.

Ling Tianyou smiled indifferently, paid him no further attention, and, having lost all interest in watching the other matches, turned and walked away.

After that interlude, the cross-tier challenges in the other arenas continued, but of the remaining six, not one managed to succeed. Three instead were gravely wounded and barely clinging to life; by the look of them, even if they scraped through, they would need a full three months to recover—effectively eliminated in advance. (To be continued.)